The Japanese attack on 'Pearl Harbor' during World War Two is seen through a very different viewpoint in this film. The film is based on a love triangle with the Pearl Harbour bombing and World War II as a backdrop.

The main characters of the film are two best friends, Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett) who grew up together and joined the Air Force. They are wild yet good fighter pilots who ends up falling in love with the same girl, Evelyn Stewart, played by Kate Beckinsale.

It so happens that Rafe, an Air Force Lieutenant, meets Evelyn, an Army Nurse, by coincidence in the course of his checkup during the war. There is a spark between the two, which withstands the War scenario. Mixed into this equation comes Danny who is entrusted by Rafe to look after Evelyn while he is sent to England to fight in the war. This is the point where Danny and Evelyn fall in love. So who gets the girl you ask? Well—you can’t find that out until after the war.

The actual bombing of Pearl Harbor occurs about three-fourths into the film. The details surrounding the actual event are presented through American eyes and can be characterized as anti-Japanese sentiments. They are showing a different version in Asia with some dialogues edited to cater to the Asian audience

There are many pluses to the film, including famous faces such as Ben Affleck, Jon Voigt as United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dan Aykroyd as Capt.Thurman, Alec Baldwin as Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Dorie Miller. New faces Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale, along with many others make this film a good viewing. The special effects alone would get you to the theaters. But downfalls include the length of the film as well as the misleading title, since the film gives more importance to the love triangle than the Pearl Harbor attack.

Overall—this is a great love story, but as far as the retelling of actual history—a textbook is always preferable. Though some of the characters and the event itself actually did occur, this film is more for the romantic than the historian. For the former the film can be rated as good, but not so for the latter...